For most students, worries about high school classes, tests and grades are supposed to be on holiday.

But not for many area students who took — or are planning to take — Advanced Placement courses.

Some teachers, particularly teachers of Advanced Placement Language classes, assigned reading and other homework during the summer break, due on the first day of school.

Summer homework is nothing compared with the summer stress of waiting for results of Advanced Placement tests, according to students who completed Mindy Eden’s Advanced Placement calculus class at Richwoods High School in May.

Though the exams were given in May, test scores won’t be released until July 8 for Illinois students.

“That’s going to be the most nerve-wracking week of our lives,” said Anna Liu, who is going into her senior year. “One number tells you whether the whole year was worth it ...”

Before Liu finished the sentence, another student, Kajal Sachdev, chimed in, “Or whether you spent the entire year for nothing and basically have to take the same class in college.”

Advanced Placement courses are known by the initials AP. As the name implies, they give students a leg up, allowing them to take college-level courses while still in high school. If students are successful, they also earn college credits.

That’s where the nerve-wracking part comes in. Many colleges give college credit for AP-level courses if a student scores three or higher on a one-to-five scale admnistered by the independent, not-for-profit College Board, which governs AP curriculum and exams.

It’s no accident more Peoria School District 150 students will spend part of the summer worrying about test scores. Last year, the district required all students in AP classes to take the AP exam as part of a concerted effort to expand AP offerings in the three high schools and to boost the number of students taking AP classes and exams.

“AP courses have been offered for years. The problem is we haven’t always done it with fidelity,” said Revonda Johnson, an instructional improvement officer for District 150. “We allowed students to take the classes but didn’t always push them to take the exams.”

In the case of Manual Academy, students couldn’t take classes or exams because AP classes hadn’t been offered in years. The school now offers four AP classes and, from 2012 to 2014, the number of AP exams given rose from 18 to 76. At Peoria High School, with eight AP classes, the number jumped from 36 to 223.

Page 2 of 2 - Richwoods offers 17 AP classes, more than any high school in the area, said guidance counselor Ron Dwyer. The number of AP tests given rose from 267 to 464 over the past two years. Some Richwoods students take combined AP classes with the more theory-based classes of the International Baccalaureate program.

The total number of AP exams given in District 150 grew from 321 to 763 between 2012 and 2014.

The numbers don’t necessarily indicate the number of students who took exams, only the number of exams given. Some students may have taken more than one AP exam.

District 150 administrators made a strategic decision to pay the $89 fee per test required for students to take the exams, which accounts for much, but not all, of the increase, Johnson said.

The district has also increased AP training and tutoring, including Saturday workshops for teachers and pre-exam tutoring for students.

District 150’s emphasis on expanding AP classes coincides with the College Board’s national initiatives to increase the number of African-American, Latino and low-income students who take and succeed in AP courses. College Board officials say the rigorous coursework is a strong predictor of college success. Even those who don’t make top scores on AP exams benefit from exposure to AP classes, according to the College Board’s research.

By pushing more students to take AP classes and exams, District 150 is also putting pressure on itself. Administrators and teachers worry about test results also. For instance, in 2013, only 38 percent of the 658 exams given received scores high enough to qualify for college credits.

“Overall, the scores weren’t horrible,” Johnson said, “but I think this year will be better.”

Students like Liu and Sachdev are motivated enough not to need incentives to take the AP exams. The two say they’re alike in every way.

Both took four AP classes during the 2013-14 school years. When Sachdev said she takes AP classes to prepare for college and a future as a doctor, Liu said “Thanks for taking my answer.”

No matter how much they worry about AP scores this summer, they’re ready for a repeat next summer. They’re urging the district to offer — and pushing classmates to enroll in — an even higher-level AP calculus class.